


Lucy (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell)

by mayseriouslyunusual



Series: These were three housemaids who were particular favourites of Childermass [2]
Category: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (TV), Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Genre: Gen, Just to warn you, but you get an extra insight if you've read the book, it will still make sense if you've seen the tv show, this is more fitting with the book canon than the tv show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-08 19:10:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4316409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayseriouslyunusual/pseuds/mayseriouslyunusual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Childermass was shot, he found it difficult to leave the place where the sky spoke to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lucy (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell)

**Author's Note:**

> In chapter 63, 'The first shall bury his heart in a dark wood beneath the snow, yet still feel it's ache.' The following is said:
> 
> "Lucas, tell Lucy, Hannah, and Dido that I said goodbye and wished them well - and good, obedient husbands when they want them." (These were three housemaids who were particular favourites of Childermass).
> 
> I wondered why Childermass, who does not form human connection easily, should care so much for these girls. This is Lucy's story.

The kitchen door burst open, causing Lucy to look up with a start.

"Clear the table!" Mr Lucas called. Lucy hurried to do so, beckoning Dido to come as well, for she had seen what it was that Mr Lucas and Mr Davey were carrying. Mr Childermass, with blood dripping from his shoulder to the floor. Neither girl made an effort towards careful handling of the objects they moved; speed was their primary objective.

"We ought to do something to stop the bleeding," said Dido, as Mr Lucas and Mr Davey laid Mr Childermass on the table, "Lucy, gi' us your apron."

Lucy untied her apron and handed it over, numbly. She was not particularly good with blood, and was beginning to feel slightly nauseous. Dido, on the other hand, was very capable. She made Lucy's apron into sort of pad, then tied it over Mr Childermass' wound with her own.

"Have the doctors been called?" Dido asked, wiping blood off her hands.

"Yes," said Mr Lucas, "Matthew ran to fetch them."

Dido sat down with a thump. "Good."

Lucy ventured closer to Mr Childermass. He was pale, and sweating. His eyes were closed, but she could see them moving beneath his eyelids. There was blood spattered up the side of his face, already dulling to a sort of brown. In contrast, a spot of bright red was just becoming visible through the impromptu apron-bandage.

"W-what happened?" she quavered.

"He was shot," said Mr Davey, "by that Lady Pole."

"Why would  _she_  mean harm to Mr Childermass?" Dido asked.

"She was aiming for Mr Norrell," Mr Davey replied, "Mr Childermass took the bullet."

"Really?" said Dido, thoughtfully. Lucy could almost see her file the information away for further consideration.

"Is there nothing we can do to make him more comfortable?" Lucy said. Mr Childermass looked quite awkward, sprawled out upon the table.

"I don't want to do anything more, we might make it worse," Dido replied. Lucy did not argue; Dido's mother was a midwife.

The door burst open again, and in came two older gentleman in black, the doctors.

"Move out of the way, girl!" the first shouted, pushing past Lucy, "Make yourself useful, rather than just gawking; fetch me some clean water and a dish." Lucy ran to the tap, and filled a bucket, which she then placed by Mr Childermass' head. Dido fetched the dish.

"Ah, someone has bandaged him," said the second doctor, "he will not have lost so much blood."

Lucy saw Dido give a small smile.

"Yes, and now we shall have to take it off,"  said the first. "We must get that bullet out!" He got a sharp knife from his medical kit, and cut away the bandage and Mr Childermass' shirt. Lucy looked away abruptly; a fresh stream of blood had started from the wound.

"Nasty business," said the second doctor, matter-of-factly, as he got out a pair of long, thin tongs, "let's get this out." He bent forward and began to probe the wound with his tongs, while the other doctor steadied Mr Childermass' head. Lucy grimaced and looked away again, though she saw Dido step forward confidently.

_Ravens wheeled and cawed in the sky, making words, though Lucy could not fathom the meaning of them. The brown fields stretched for miles all around, and she was alone upon the road that ran through them. No. There was another figure, far ahead. Mr Childermass. She began to run towards him, shouting his name, while all around her the birds and stones and wind and sky spoke to her, but she did not understand what it was they said. She ran on, and all the while the world screamed a message._

Lucy fell back into the chair, panting. She heard a plink as the doctor dropped the bullet into the dish that Dido held, and then she heard Mr Childermass gasp. She looked over, and saw him sit up, jerking out of the first doctor's grip, then fall back, still. Dido stepped back, and Lucy jumped up.She grasped Dido's arm.

"Did you see that?" she hissed.

"What? The spurt of blood as they took out t' bullet?" Dido replied, "Nasty, weren't it?"

It dawned on Lucy that running upon an ancient road and hearing the world speak was not a common thing to do in a kitchen, so she bit back a correction. "Yeah," she said.

 

"Mr Norrell still hasn't gone to see him," said Dido, as she laid out a bowl of cold water and a flannel on a tray. "It's reet ungrateful, I think."

"I'll ask you to speak more respectfully, please," said Mrs Wetherald, the cook, as she passed by.

"Why? 'Tis only the truth!" Dido retorted.

"Nevertheless, it is our master you speak of. You'll hold your tongue, unless you want to feel my rolling pin on your behind."

Dido rolled her eyes, but quieted, to Lucy's relief. She lifted the tray to take upstairs, and Lucy followed with a jug of water and a cup.

 

Mr Childermass lay in bed. Neater now, with combed hair and a clean bandage, but he was still pale and sweating. He had not woken since they took the bullet out. Lucy set the jug and cup on the bedside table, while Dido wiped some of the sweat from Mr Childermass' brow.

_The road stretched far ahead of her, and the sky spoke once more. She looked to her left, and there was Mr Childermass. He had his face turned upwards, peering at something. She followed his gaze, and saw a tightrope stretched across the sky. There were people walking along it, so far up as to appear like dolls. She thought she recognised Mr Norrell, and his pupil, Jonathan Strange, amongst a crowd of other people that she did not know. She touched Mr Childemass' arm, and he turned to look at her._

_"Sir," she said, "I think you are lost in this place. Will you not come back with me?"_

_He nodded. She turned and led him back to his body, still lying in the bed. There was a small, flame-coloured creature running about the room. She captured it and gathered it up. It burned like the fire it so resembled. She realised that it was Mr Childermass' pain, somehow escaped from him. She placed it in his arms, feeling somewhat guilty in returning the hurt to him. But pain had no business running about without a body; it might do someone a mischief._

"...Lucy?" Dido called. "Lucy!"

Lucy shook herself. "Yes?"

"Where were you? You blanked out for a moment there," said Dido.

"Sorry, I'm just... just tired. This was all a bit of a shock, you know?"

Dido nodded, and turned to look at Mr Childermass. "Does he not look more peaceful now?"

"Yes," Lucy replied. His sweat had broken, and there was some colour in his cheeks.

 

The next day, Mr Childermass woke, and Mr Norrell went to see him. When he was done, and the doctors had been to see Mr Childermass again, Lucy went up with a fresh jug of water.

"It is good to see you awake, sir," she said, "all of us below stairs were so very worried."

"You had no need to be," he said, taking a cup of water. As he drank it, he looked at her oddly, as if he was trying to remember something.

 

A week later, Mr Childermass was up and had returned to his normal duties. One afternoon, as he passed Lucy on the corridor, he grabbed her arm, nearly making her drop the basket of laundry she was carrying.

"Sir?" she asked.

"You were there," he said, "in the place where the world spoke. You helped me find my way back into England." Then, sounding slightly hurt, "You gave my pain back to me."

Lucy hesitated. Well, there was no point denying it. "Yes, sir," she said, "I thought you did not remember it."

"I did not, until just now," he said, releasing her arm. "Do you know what this means?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I do not, sir."

"You are sensitive to magic." He stepped back, and absently rubbed his stubbled chin. "Norrell will surely go into apoplexy if he finds out. It is best if we keep this to ourselves. But..." here he hesitated. "If there is anything you need to know, you may ask me."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Mr Childermass nodded also. "Very good."

Lucy hefted her washing basket, and they parted to attend to their duties.

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this. The concept that Clarke wrote of the tightrope across the sky and the flame-coloured pain creature was just so fascinating, I had to write a bit about it.
> 
> Feedback very much appreciated!


End file.
